NICOLA Sturgeon has insisted there is “no legal basis” to suspend Alex Salmond from the SNP amid the allegations of sexual harassment made against him.
The declaration by the First Minister came as political opponents called for “full transparency” about any meetings that occurred between the two senior Nationalists regarding the claims against the former party leader, who has forcefully denied them.
In a statement, Ms Sturgeon explained that the party had not received any complaints about her predecessor's conduct nor had it carried out the formal investigation. But, she stressed, the matter would be reconsidered if the situation were to change.
"The party's rules apply to all members and no-one is above them," declared the FM.
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She noted that, as with any other organisation, due process must be followed. Yet she pointed out: “In this case, unlike in some previous cases, the investigation into complaints about Alex Salmond has not been conducted by the SNP and no complaints have been received by the party.
"Also, for legal reasons, the limited information I have about the Scottish Government investigation cannot at this stage be shared with the party. And, rightly, it is the party, not me as leader, that has the power to suspend membership.
"In summary, the party has no legal basis at this time to suspend Alex Salmond's membership,” added Ms Sturgeon.
The allegations about Mr Salmond's conduct towards two staff members in 2013 - while he was in office - have now been handed to Police Scotland.
Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary at the Scottish Government, said the complaints were raised in January and the former SNP leader was notified in March about an investigation.
She had intended to make a statement but the move was halted after Mr Salmond initiated legal proceedings.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour said it was “understood” the FM and her predecessor had met on “multiple occasions” to discuss the case.
It called for publication of the times, dates and minutes of any such meetings as well as clarification about whether Mr Salmond had asked Ms Sturgeon to interfere in the investigation.
Rhoda Grant, Scottish Labour’s Women’s spokeswoman, declared: “The people of Scotland expect full transparency in this case.” She stressed that it would be completely unacceptable if the details of any Sturgeon/Salmond meetings remained secret.
“The allegations against Alex Salmond are incredibly serious. His meetings with the head of a government that was investigating him must not be kept under wraps. Nicola Sturgeon must publish the details and minutes of these meetings as soon as possible.
"The SNP must also do all it can to give complainants the support they need, whoever the alleged perpetrator is, and make clear that there is safe space for any other survivors to come forward.”
Ms Grant added: “Nicola Sturgeon should finally suspend Alex Salmond from the SNP immediately.”
Annie Wells, the Scottish Conservative Equalities spokeswoman, said, despite Ms Sturgeon’s latest statement, many questions remained unanswered.
“We are still none the wiser as to the way the assault was treated when it was alleged to have taken place, nor do we know when anyone in the SNP or the Scottish Government was informed about the incident.”
She added: “As the First Minister herself states, these are very serious allegations; as such, they deserve to be taken seriously and that means seeing full transparency from the SNP and the Scottish Government as to how they handled it.”
Jo Swinson for the Liberal Democrats stressed how people on all sides of the political divide needed to “resist the temptation to make party political capital from a situation involving allegations of sexual harassment”.
She explained: “Supporters of Scottish independence should abandon Unionist conspiracy theories and supporters of the UK should be wary of immediately branding the SNP leadership of complicity.
“What’s important now is that the police investigation is able to proceed unimpinged by political pressure and it should proceed irrespective of the outcome of the Court of Session case.
“Any flaws in the internal government process do not trump the imperative of a thorough investigation of the allegations by the police.”
The Lib Dem deputy leader added: “We should be wary of inflammatory words and partisan statements which distract from the matter at hand and could discourage women and men, who have experienced similar situations, from coming forward.”
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